...Posts Sharing Examples of How the Bible is Still Relevant in Our Lives Today (Posted on Monday and Thursday mornings)

Monday, September 26, 2016

Intro, Fable Started It and Pudding Thief Posts-

Since Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life, is now on line through individual posts, I am now putting several links together for each post. I found groupings of three posts worked well for anyone interested in using these for a Bible study group. Debbie Seiling

Although this book has the potential of being controversial, it is not my intent to offend any person, group or religious belief.I feel obliged to honestly express how the selected Bible passages have influenced my life and would be negligent, as an author and a Christian, to do anything less.

It’s my desire for readers of all ages and religious backgrounds to find that reading the Bible never becomes outdated and continues to hold personal significance for all types of readers of the new millennium. Click on title to read more. D.S

Would you believe that a fable got me started reading the Bible? In 1980, someone said something to me about, “god helps him who helps himself,” and referred to it being in the Bible. I had heard this saying over the years, but realized it contradicted some other things I had read in the Bible. I looked through the Concordance at the back of my Bible but couldn’t find this passage anywhere. Perplexed, I decided the only way I would know if it was in the Bible was for me to read it from cover to cover for myself. Now, this decision wasn’t based solely on my frustration about this quote. I had a neighbor who quoted different contradictory things from the Bible, as well. I figured that I needed to read the Bible to see what God really said about the topics the neighbor kept referring to. I get concerned when people quote passages from the Bible out of context, making them sound the way they want.

Well, it’s twenty-three years later and I have completely read the Bible from cover to cover sixteen plus times.“God helps him who helps himself,” is not in it anywhere!Actually, the Bible says that we are supposed to turn to God for our every need, trusting that He will provide for us (paraphrased.)

I was frustrated as I continued to hear people quote this, because I couldn’t figure out where people got it.Most of the people who used this quote, said it as if they thought it came from the Bible.Well, I finally have closure on this…after all this time!

I was reading some Aesop’s Fables to my students.They have to be able to identify the moral of a story for a test they have in the spring.I decided that I could help them be more successful on the test if I had them identify the morals from Aesop’s Fables.Well, after reading “Hercules and the Wagoner,” I finally realized where “god helps him who helps himself” came from.It’s from this fable!The moral written for this fable is “Self help is the best help” and “Heaven helps those who help themselves.”

When they are talking about god, they aren’t talking about God.They are talking about the mythological character, Hercules.I bet most people haven’t the slightest idea that they are quoting a fable instead of the Bible.

This may seem like a trivial thing, but it has been a confusing issue to me for twenty-three years and now it’s resolved!I feel so relieved and wanted to share this with others.Actually, this has really worked out well in the long run.If it hadn’t been for my inability to find this quote in the Bible, I might not have been motivated to read the Bible from cover to cover.I enjoy reading it so much that I continue to read it from cover to cover again and again.Every time I read it, I get something new out of it.

Particular passages in the Bible have really influenced my life and have molded my relationship with God.I felt led to share these with you, since they may have a similar impact on your life, as well.

Whenever someone quotes Bible passages, it’s really good to read them for yourself.You should read a portion before and after the passage.This helps you know if people are pulling these passages from the Bible out of context, distorting the meaning by making it sound the way they want.

I use the King James Bible for my quotes which tends to spell things somewhat differently than we do (example: labour for labor).In order to keep the passages just as they are in the Bible, I use the exact spellings, punctuation, capitalizations or lack thereof in order to not alter the passage.I do attempt to explain what these passages mean to me, or I describe how they have influenced my life.

I’m not a minister and don’t profess to be one, but I feel that reading the Bible can influence your life, as well.Will it impact your life in exactly the same way?Probably not, the Bible is a very personal thing.If 1,000 different people read the Bible, there would be 1,000 different interpretations.Every time I read the Bible, passages I have read before often mean something totally different to me, depending on what is going on in my life at the time.God uses the Bible as a means of communicating His personal message for each and every one of us.

Reading the Bible may seem like a major undertaking for some of you.Actually, after you get through the “thee’s” and “thou’s,” it’s not as difficult to understand as you might think. A chapter in the Bible isn’t like a chapter in a novel.A Bible chapter is generally about one to two columns long.It’s hardly ever longer than a page or two, at most.I read at least one to two chapters a day for about 10-15 minutes.It takes me an anywhere from one year to two years to read the Bible from cover to cover, depending on how many chapters I read each day.It’s so rewarding that you might consider reading it yourself!The quiet time I have with God each day as I read the Bible, sets a positive tone for my day and my life.

I was just beginning to read the New Testament when I started writing this book.That’s why the New Testament is written first and the Old Testament is written afterward.After I finished writing the book, I had thought about cutting and pasting the Old Testament first but realized it wouldn’t work.As I wrote the book, I made comments about passages and referred back to them at other times.If I put the Old Testament in the beginning, some of the comments I share with you would be out of sequence.I am hoping that leaving the book in this order doesn’t cause a problem for anyone.If it does, I apologize in advance, but still feel this book has many redeeming qualities, more significant than whether the Old Testament is listed first or second.

The passages in italics are from the Bible.Otherwise, they are my personal comments on how these passages have influenced my life.I also try to capitalize any reference to God/Jesus out of respect, which makes it easier for you to follow who is speaking or being spoken to.I may group similar passages from the Bible together so that you have an approximate idea of how many times God stresses a particular topic.The sheer number of times that God has had something mentioned in the Bible has led me to make changes in my life.Although you may not relate to these passages in the same ways I have, the reader can be influenced by the Bible in a way that is personally significant to them.

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered.And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God.Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 1-4.

When I was a child, I saw a big bowl of my mother’s home-made butterscotch pudding sitting on the kitchen cupboard. I looked around and couldn’t see anyone, so I sneaked over to the bowl and ran my finger around the side of the bowl. I ever so carefully got a small amount of pudding on my pudgy finger and licked it off.

I thought I was going to get off “Scott free” but I didn’t realize there were spies about and a bounty on pudding thieves.After being told the pudding had to be thrown out because I had gotten germs all over it, my consequence was to be sent to my room.Instead of being remorseful for what I did, my thoughts were, “If I had known the pudding would be thrown out, I would have eaten a whole bunch instead of a little bit.That would have made my consequence much more worthwhile.”

I gave in to these temptations and lost my perspective of right and wrong and I hadn’t even been fasting for forty days like Jesus.In fact, I had eaten a filling lunch but still was vulnerable to the lure dangled in front of me.Now some might think that this isn’t a major sin but don’t realize that Satan works in very subtle ways to get us to rationalize our actions.He is able to lead us astray without our ever realizing it.Fortunately for me, Jesus didn’t give in to the temptations for food, status or power that we often fall prey to.Click on the post title to read related Bible passages.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.

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Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life

bible-passages.blogspot.com

About the Author:

Having read the Bible from cover to cover 16+ times, I felt led to write Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life to show that the Bible is still significant in our lives today. Since these posts are examples of how I apply the Bible to my daily life, they don't necessarily represent the whole meaning of the Bible passages. Will you relate to these Bible passages in the same ways that I have? My desire is that through these examples, you will learn to relate to the Bible in a way that is personally significant to you!

Book ISBN Numbers

PB: 9781418412180
HB: 9781418412173
eB: 9781418412197

Previous Cover and Pen Name

Links to Other Blogs I Felt Led to Create:

Types of Christians Posts Link

Bible Study: Relating the Bible to YOUR Life!

Easy Bible Study with Examples to Make Bible Connections to Self,Text, World, and Media

Read the Book for Free:

Read Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life for Free! Click on the Archive on 2015 and when you read the posts from 8/3/15 through 9/22/16 , you will have read the complete book. Feel free to share this info with others. P.S. It doesn't really matter if you read the posts out of sequence (top down). Enjoy! Debra Seiling

Free2ShareVBS Link

Free VBS Curriculum

A Christian Caregiver Blog

Trying to Maintain a Focus on Christ's Will While Providing Care for a Parent

Review by Rev. Gordon

Debra Seiling's "Bible Passages" is an interesting book to read. Written in narrative form after reading the Bible multiple times, I did not find Debra's book to be "preachy" or holier-than-thou". While I do not believe Debra's book was intended to be-or will be-used as a textbook, it does contain multiple revelations of one person's assessment and truths with regard to what impact God's Word has had on her life in the past, at present, and as she expects it will in the future. Is the Bible relevant to us in today's world? What Debra Seiling has written in her book, the answer to that question is a resounding: "YES!"

Lilybean's Review

I have been using this book a little differently than just as a reading book. As a daily devotional or study book, it is wonderful. All you have to do is open it up to any page, read the passage and the short narrative and begin your personal study, meditation or group discussion. Because it is written in plain English, it would be perfect for a youth group or high school group. Don't let the lack of sections and headers, or the simple layout dissuade you. It would be a great book to get discussions going for an ice breaker or as a whole study session. Let the author comment, let the Spirit speak to you, and you will find value in this book.

Author's Disclosure

Readers should know that any profits I get from the sale of the book: Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life are donated to a charity of my choice, which varies from time to time. I do not receive any money or compensation from any business and any charity links on my blogs link directly to the charity. I don't feel right getting money for doing what God has led me to do for Him. Debbie